Another dumb, dumb question: One of my car's hubcaps got dented and ripped off yesterday. I'm reluctant to put the dented/twisted one back on as I'm afraid it will rip the tire.

1. There's no reason I can't simply drive without a hubcap, right?2. Can I buy a new hubcap just from an auto part store, like AutoZone?

Thanks.

Hubcaps do help keep salt off your inner wheel parts... rusty lugnuts are no fun.

Plus on the off-chance a lugnut falls off... you will hear it rattling around vs it just flying off into the wild. Then it will be forced to compete with road alligators (blown tire bits), that one shoe laying by the roadside and that half-filled garbage bag you just saw laying on the side of the road which now has Stephen King book plots running through your head. Think of the lugnuts!

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"I feel sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." "It is so low, in fact, that Miss Manners feels sure you would not want to resort to it yourself, even in your own defense. We do not believe in retaliatory rudeness." Judith Martin

Thanks everyone for the hubcap answers. I figured that they were primarily for aesthetics but just wanted to check.

I will probably replace the one that got semi-ruined since (I think) it looks kind of trashy to not have a hubcap. I've looked at more hubcaps (while driving around) in the last couple of days than I have in my entire life! I don't want to spend a lot of money--the current bent hubcap seems to be heavy duty plastic so hopefully it will be cheap to replace. (Nissan hubcap.)

I am amazed that people would spend $$$$$$ for something like that but mileage varies on what is important!

I do know I need to get a new flapper eventually, installing it is just going to be the interesting part...I haven't the slightest idea how and the one person in this household who does rarely has any free time.

Flappers are about the easiest thing on a toilet to change*. You don't even need tools.

1. Go to store and buy a flapper. Last I looked they were about $5. Avoid black rubber, as they tend to get black slime stuff. Still works fine, it's just disgusting when you change it again.

2. Remove top from toilet tank.

3. (optional) Turn off water at valve under toilet. To be honest, I just let the water run, since this is a pretty quick fix.

4. Flush toilet to empty tank.

5. Remove old flapper. It has been a while, but I seem to recall it was held on by side loops.

6. Detach chain from old flapper.

7. Attach chain to new flapper.

8. Loop the loops over the loop holders.

9. (Turn water back on if you turned it off.) Test flushing a couple of times to make sure the chain is pulling up the flapper properly.

*This is assuming that you don't have a really fancy or unusual toilet. I have no idea how to change the flapper on a Toto with all the accessories. I'm not even sure if Toto toilets have flappers.

I know I'm probably capable of actually doing it, but every time I even remove the lid from the tank - even if I'm not doing anything - I start having anxiety attacks. It took me a good fifteen minutes to even be able to put my hand in there for a manual reseat, and I had to go curl up in bed and just try to breathe for an hour or so afterwards because I was panicking so much. It's completely irrational, I know, and it drives me nuts...

I did get a chance to prove the concussive maintenance theory today though. I have a freestanding metal shelf that currently lives on the tank, and when the toilet started running again, I just picked up the shelf and put it back down. It did in fact jar things back into place with a very satisfying gurgle.

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"So, what did you wish for?""I wished for... World domination, of course."

I know I'm probably capable of actually doing it, but every time I even remove the lid from the tank - even if I'm not doing anything - I start having anxiety attacks. It took me a good fifteen minutes to even be able to put my hand in there for a manual reseat, and I had to go curl up in bed and just try to breathe for an hour or so afterwards because I was panicking so much. It's completely irrational, I know, and it drives me nuts...

I did get a chance to prove the concussive maintenance theory today though. I have a freestanding metal shelf that currently lives on the tank, and when the toilet started running again, I just picked up the shelf and put it back down. It did in fact jar things back into place with a very satisfying gurgle.

Don't worry, we can form a club!It's been what, 3 weeks and I haven't screwed the lightswitch back in place. It's quite easy and someone explained how, I know where and how and which fuse controls the lightswitch that I have to turn off.But I'm still pretty sure if I do it alone they'll find a pile of dust on top of my shoes.Last time I went halfway to doing it, chickened out, turned the electricity back on, and now I just remember to be carefull when I use the switch (there's not really anything potentially dangerous, it just doesn't sit flush to the wall).

I know I'm probably capable of actually doing it, but every time I even remove the lid from the tank - even if I'm not doing anything - I start having anxiety attacks. It took me a good fifteen minutes to even be able to put my hand in there for a manual reseat, and I had to go curl up in bed and just try to breathe for an hour or so afterwards because I was panicking so much. It's completely irrational, I know, and it drives me nuts...

I did get a chance to prove the concussive maintenance theory today though. I have a freestanding metal shelf that currently lives on the tank, and when the toilet started running again, I just picked up the shelf and put it back down. It did in fact jar things back into place with a very satisfying gurgle.

Don't worry, we can form a club!It's been what, 3 weeks and I haven't screwed the lightswitch back in place. It's quite easy and someone explained how, I know where and how and which fuse controls the lightswitch that I have to turn off.But I'm still pretty sure if I do it alone they'll find a pile of dust on top of my shoes.Last time I went halfway to doing it, chickened out, turned the electricity back on, and now I just remember to be carefull when I use the switch (there's not really anything potentially dangerous, it just doesn't sit flush to the wall).

I'll come fix your lightswitch if you fix my toilet.

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"So, what did you wish for?""I wished for... World domination, of course."

While I'm not a mod on this forum, I am on two smaller fora. Like most mods, I nail my share of spammers. And at least 7 times out of 10, the spammer begins by resurrecting an ancient thread and posting a null-content message, usually in broken English. "This are very intersteing. I think so too." The links they're spamming for are usually in their signature block, although I've seen much sneakier ways. Quoting an old response and putting a link there instead of their reply, or hiding a link inside the coding for a smiley.

OK, the broken English and null-content I understand. They probably don't speak English well, much less fluently. But why in the name of little green apples do they resurrect an old thread instead of posting in active threads where they're more likely to slide past unnoticed by the mods? And why hide a link in such a way that one actually has to hunt for it, thus ensuring that almost no one but the mod will see it?

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~It's true. Money can't buy happiness. You have to turn it into books first. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

While I'm not a mod on this forum, I am on two smaller fora. Like most mods, I nail my share of spammers. And at least 7 times out of 10, the spammer begins by resurrecting an ancient thread and posting a null-content message, usually in broken English. "This are very intersteing. I think so too." The links they're spamming for are usually in their signature block, although I've seen much sneakier ways. Quoting an old response and putting a link there instead of their reply, or hiding a link inside the coding for a smiley.

OK, the broken English and null-content I understand. They probably don't speak English well, much less fluently. But why in the name of little green apples do they resurrect an old thread instead of posting in active threads where they're more likely to slide past unnoticed by the mods? And why hide a link in such a way that one actually has to hunt for it, thus ensuring that almost no one but the mod will see it?

My guesses:

1) If they're picking a thread at random from an external source (e.g. Google), and the forum has an extensive archive, they're a lot more likely to hit an older thread than a new one.

2) Hiding the link doesn't help for getting people to click it directly, but Google pagerank is directly influenced by how many unrelated places on the web link to your website. So if you can sneak into old threads on a hundred different forums and stick a link to your website somewhere the mods won't delete it, Google thinks a hundred different people have all linked to your website and will put you higher in the search rankings. If you're trying to sell "V1AGRA!!!" or herbal supplements or guaranteed stock tips, there are millions of other sites out there doing the same - and chances are a casual searcher isn't going to scroll through 2500 pages of results to find your site. If you can carpetbomb enough other sites with links, though, you might be able to break into the top page or two for a handful of useful search terms and greatly increase your web traffic.

3) The broken English thing - that's because "sit and post spam comments all day for a penny apiece" is really a viable job in some parts of China and India. Which says something about the local economies.

While I'm not a mod on this forum, I am on two smaller fora. Like most mods, I nail my share of spammers. And at least 7 times out of 10, the spammer begins by resurrecting an ancient thread and posting a null-content message, usually in broken English. "This are very intersteing. I think so too." The links they're spamming for are usually in their signature block, although I've seen much sneakier ways. Quoting an old response and putting a link there instead of their reply, or hiding a link inside the coding for a smiley.

OK, the broken English and null-content I understand. They probably don't speak English well, much less fluently. But why in the name of little green apples do they resurrect an old thread instead of posting in active threads where they're more likely to slide past unnoticed by the mods? And why hide a link in such a way that one actually has to hunt for it, thus ensuring that almost no one but the mod will see it?

My guesses:

1) If they're picking a thread at random from an external source (e.g. Google), and the forum has an extensive archive, they're a lot more likely to hit an older thread than a new one.

2) Hiding the link doesn't help for getting people to click it directly, but Google pagerank is directly influenced by how many unrelated places on the web link to your website. So if you can sneak into old threads on a hundred different forums and stick a link to your website somewhere the mods won't delete it, Google thinks a hundred different people have all linked to your website and will put you higher in the search rankings. If you're trying to sell "V1AGRA!!!" or herbal supplements or guaranteed stock tips, there are millions of other sites out there doing the same - and chances are a casual searcher isn't going to scroll through 2500 pages of results to find your site. If you can carpetbomb enough other sites with links, though, you might be able to break into the top page or two for a handful of useful search terms and greatly increase your web traffic.

3) The broken English thing - that's because "sit and post spam comments all day for a penny apiece" is really a viable job in some parts of China and India. Which says something about the local economies.

It could also not be actual people at all, but spambots. While I've never moderated fora, I've been the moderator for several chats and we got a lot of spambots in there. If it'd been actual people it would have been much easier to take care of, but we ended up having to apply blanket bans. Any users in the countries (yes, it was entire countries!) that got blanket banned were SOL...

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"So, what did you wish for?""I wished for... World domination, of course."

I didn't know that about the Google pageranks, thanks! That does make sense. And one of the forum owners is seriously considering blanket banning of whole countries, because we have no members at this time from those countries. Pakistan and China, but for some reason not India (yet.) At the moment we're having fun poking at them. "JoeSmith, that's a very interesting screen-name for someone from China/Pakistan. Is there a reason that you chose it?"

The other one won't do blanket banning, because they do get a lot of legitimate traffic from India and Pakistan.

Logged

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~It's true. Money can't buy happiness. You have to turn it into books first. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I will probably replace the one that got semi-ruined since (I think) it looks kind of trashy to not have a hubcap. I've looked at more hubcaps (while driving around) in the last couple of days than I have in my entire life! I don't want to spend a lot of money--the current bent hubcap seems to be heavy duty plastic so hopefully it will be cheap to replace. (Nissan hubcap.)"

As a side note, since you mentioned that you were afraid that the damaged cap could rip your tire, you're probably talking about a wheel cover, not a hubcap. It seems pedantic but it'll help if you search online for a replacement if you use the term "wheel cover" Many places use the terms interchangeably and if you talk to a person they'll figure it out, but computers are maddeningly specific sometimes.

If you can't find an exact match for the ones you have but can find a pair of wheel covers on the cheap that fit your car, there's an easy but maybe not obvious solution. Get those two covers. Then put the two new ones on the driver's side wheels and two old ones on the passenger side wheels. You will be well and truly stunned how nobody will notice that the wheel covers on one side don't match the ones on the other, and barring you parking the car near a reflective surface it's virtually impossible to see both sides of the car at once.

I did that back in college. Went to a salvage yard got two hubcaps to replace the stolen ones. They were the same style but a darker color than the originals. One color on driver's side, one on passenger side. Problem solved.